Soils of the tropics and sub-tropics are typically acid and depleted of soluble sources of silicon (Si) due to weathering and leaching associated with high rainfall and temperatures. Together with intensive cropping, this leads to marginal or deficient plant Si levels in Si-accumulating crops such as rice and sugarcane. Although such deficiencies can be corrected with exogenous application of Si sources, there is controversy over the effectiveness of sources in relation to their total Si content, and their capacity to raise soil and plant Si concentrations...

Hypomagnesemia is a common but often overlooked problem in hospitalized patients. Unrecognized hypomagnesemia can cause serious complications. The association of hypokalemia and hypocalcemia is strongly evocative of a magnesium deficiency. Research into the causes of hypomagnesemia is imperative, as it will definitely change the approach, treatment and prognosis. We report the case of a 65-year-old man with chronic hypocalcemia and hypokalemia associated with cerebellar syndrome, a solitary seizure and cerebellar hyperintensities on magnetic resonance imaging...

The European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism defined intestinal failure (IF) as "the reduction of gut function below the minimum necessary for the absorption of macronutrients and/or water and electrolytes, such that intravenous supplementation is required to maintain health and/or growth". IF is classified as type 1-acute, type 2-prolonged acute and type 3-chronic IF. A short bowel syndrome (SBS) due to the intestinal malabsorption associated with a functional small intestine length of less than 200 cm is the most frequent mechanism of IF...

The present study was designed to investigate the effect of magnesium (Mg) depletion on the expression of voltage-gated calcium (Ca(2+)) channels and Ca(2+) currents in the heart and thereby on hypomagnesemic arrhythmogenesis in adult male rats. Male Wistar rats were fed an Mg-free diet or a normal diet for up to 16 weeks. Serum Mg concentrations were significantly reduced at week 4 or later with an Mg-free diet, which experimentally represents hypomagnesemia. Myocardial Mg contents were also reduced at week 16 accompanied by myocardial hypertrophy...

CONTEXT: Short bowel syndrome is a rare and devastating complication in chronic inflammatory bowel disease following functional or anatomic loss of extensive segments of the intestine. CASE REPORT: A 60-year-old male patient with Crohn's disease had undergone multiple resections of the intestine and developed short bowel syndrome. Despite up to 4-5 liters of orally fluid, sufficient calcium and magnesium intake, he suffered from recurrent acute kidney injury due to profound volume depletion and those electrolyte deficiencies...

Diabetic patients frequently develop a constellation of electrolyte disorders. These disturbances are particularly common in decompensated diabetics, especially in the context of diabetic ketoacidosis or nonketotic hyperglycemic hyperosmolar syndrome. These patients are markedly potassium-, magnesium- and phosphate-depleted. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is linked to both hypo- and hyper-natremia reflecting the coexistence of hyperglycemia-related mechanisms, which tend to change serum sodium to opposite directions...

Transient receptor potential melastatin 7 (TRPM7) is a Ca(2+)- and Mg(2+)-permeable nonselective cation channel that contains a unique carboxyl-terminal serine/threonine protein kinase domain. It has been reported that reactive oxygen species associated with hypoxia or ischemia activate TRPM7 current and then induce Ca(2+) overload resulting in neuronal cell death in the brain. In this study, we aimed to investigate the molecular mechanisms of TRPM7 regulation by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) using murine TRPM7 expressed in HEK293 cells...

This study examined changes in the metabolism of magnesium (Mg), and related serum parameters, following treatment with vanadium (V) in streptozotocin-diabetic rats. Over a period of five weeks, four groups were examined: control, diabetic, diabetic-treated with 1 mg V/day or 3 mg V/day. The V was supplied in drinking water as bis(maltolato)oxovanadium(IV). The Mg levels were measured in food, faeces, urine, serum, muscle, kidney, liver, spleen, heart and femur. Albumin, uric acid, urea, total-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, aspartate-aminotransferase and alkaline-phosphatase were determined in serum...

UNLABELLED: The glutamatergic mechanism of antidepressant treatments is now in the center of research to overcome the limitations of monoamine-based approaches. There are several unresolved issues. For the action of the model compound, ketamine, NMDA-receptor block, AMPA-receptor activation and BDNF release appear to be involved in a mechanism, which leads to synaptic sprouting and strengthened synaptic connections. The link to the pathophysiology of depression is not clear. An overlooked connection is the role of magnesium, which acts as physiological NMDA-receptor antagonist: 1...

Metastasis is the major cause of breast cancer mortality. The strength of cell adhesion to extracellular matrix is critical to cancer cell migration. Integrins, the primary mediators of cell to extra-cellular matrix adhesion, contain distinct divalent cation-binding sites. Binding of manganese and magnesium is vital to integrin-mediated cancer cell adhesion and migration. We hypothesized that zinc, a divalent cation, can modulate breast cancer metastasis through interfering with these divalent cation-dependent integrin-mediated cancer cell adhesion and migration...

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a major depressive disorder that most often emerges within 6 to 12 weeks of delivery, but can happen any time up to 1 year after birth. In developed countries, the incidence of postnatal depression is about 10-15% in adult women depending upon the diagnostic criteria, timing of screening and screening instruments used. Mothers with depressive symptoms have been found to have more complex behavioral contacts with their children; this situation can damage family relationships, and even leads to infanticide...

OBJECTIVES: High, normal, or low plasma magnesium (Mg) levels have been observed in depressed patients. The aim of our study was to investigate the relationship of Mg levels with depression severity, specific psychopathological dimensions, and treatment outcome. METHODS: A total of 123 outpatients during a major depressive episode were recruited. All patients showed at least two major depressive episodes and did not achieve remission in the former treatment trial...

Vanadium is an element whose role as a micronutrient and hypoglycaemic drug has yet to be fully clarified. The present study was undertaken to investigate the bioavailability and tissue distribution of vanadium and its interactions with magnesium in healthy and in magnesium-deficient rats, in order to determine its role as a micronutrient and antidiabetic agent. Four groups were used: control (456.4 mg magnesium and 0.06 mg vanadium/kg food); control treated with 1mg vanadium/day; magnesium-deficient (164.4 mg magnesium/kg food and 0...

Hypomagnesaemia is relatively common, with an estimated prevalence in the general population ranging from 2·5% to 15%. It may result from inadequate magnesium intake, increased gastrointestinal or renal loss or redistribution from extracellular to intracellular space. Drug-induced hypomagnesaemia, particularly related to proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy, is being increasingly recognized. Most patients with hypomagnesaemia are asymptomatic; symptomatic magnesium depletion is often associated with multiple other biochemical abnormalities, including hypokalaemia, hypocalcaemia and metabolic acidosis...

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Intracellular magnesium (icMg) depletion may coexist with normomagnesemia. Mg deficiency (serum and/or intracellular) and decreased heart rate variability (HRV) are common in heart failure (HF). Since both are predictors of poor prognosis, it was of interest to evaluate the effect of Mg supplementation on HRV in patients with HF. METHODS AND RESULTS: We investigated the effect of Mg administration on HRV in normomagnesemic patients with systolic HF...

The aims of this study were to estimate of psychomotor activity, emotional status and magnesium (Mg) content in blood of rats fed with Mg-deficient diet for 49 days; and to find out whether the combination of vitamin B6 with Mg will reveal antidepressant- and anxiolytic-like activity and reduce the length of the treatment needed to recover rats from Mg-deficient condition. To induce hypomagnesemia, seventy-nine rats were placed on a Mg-deficient diet (Mg content < or = 15 mg/kg) and demineralized water for 7 weeks...

Dermal exposure to hydrofluoric acid could potentially result in severe serum calcium and magnesium depletion induced by binding with fluoride anion. This report describes the case of a 48-year-old man who developed hypocalcemia and hypomagnesemia accompanied by hypokalemia-an interesting finding-following a chemical injury with exposure to 70% hydrofluoric acid. Successful treatment included administration of calcium gluconate and magnesium both intravenously and topically.

The metabolism of K and Mg is closely linked. Mg deficiency may arise together with and contribute to the persistence of K deficiency. Isolated disturbances of K balance do not produce secondary abnormalities in Mg homeostasis. In contrast, primary disturbances in Mg balance, particularly Mg depletion, produce secondary K depletion. This appears to result from an inability of the cell to maintain the normally high intracellular concentration of K, perhaps as a result of an increase in membrane permeability to K and / or inhibition of Na+-K+-ATPase...

OBJECTIVE: To explore the mechanism underlying severe hypomagnesaemia in long-term users of proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs). PATIENTS: Two cases of severe hypomagnesaemia in adult long-term users of the PPI omeprazole, presenting with hypocalcaemic seizures. MEASUREMENTS: We studied renal magnesium handling during an incremental intravenous magnesium infusion, and assessed total body magnesium status by the 24-h retention of the parenteral load...